More Tamil refugees in TN return to SL

Forty-nine Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in Tamil Nadu will return to Sri Lanka by a commercial ferry that will leave Tuticorin today, a spokesperson for the UN refugee agency in Sri Lanka said.

Comprising 12 families, presently residing in different camps across the Tamil Nadu state, they belong to the second batch of refugees who will return to Sri Lanka with UNHCR assistance, R. Vidjea Barathy, Associate Repatriation Officer in the Chennai office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees told The Hindu.

The passenger ferry is due to sail from Tuticorin today at 6 pm and will reach Colombo after a 14-hour overnight journey, news.lk reported.

The Tuticorin-Colombo service, launched earlier this year, transported the first batch of 37 refugees in October.

"They are being taken with their consent and they are aware of conditions in their hometowns. Most of them are in touch with their relatives there," Barathy said.

Tamil Nadu is home to nearly 100,000 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees, with over 68,000 living in 112 camps across the State, and nearly 32,000 elsewhere. Since the war ended in May 2009, refugees have been returning to the island in varying numbers.

According to the UNHCR, 800 refugees returned to Sri Lanka in 2009, 2,054 went back in 2010, and the figure crossed 1,448 in September this year. With the introduction of the Tuticorin-Colombo ferry service, many more have started expressing interest in using the service, as they can transport their household items along with them. A passenger is allowed to carry belonging weighing up to 150 kg on the ferry. In the north, there were resettlement, rehabilitation and demining issues to contend with. The situation has changed now, and more people belonging to northern towns are also among those eager to return to their homeland.